Tenant selection candidates

[Andrew Perkins]

We just listed our first rental property and received lots of interest in it. We have narrowed it down to two candidates and I’m having trouble deciding which one is more qualified. This single family home is in a class B neighborhood with home values averaging around $95,000. I get a good feeling from both of them having met them and showed them the house. Here are the two candidates info:

Candidate 1-

- Maintenance Technician for over a year

- Makes slightly over 3X rule

- Foreclosure and auto loan default in 2013 when going through a divorce

- Lived back at home for a few years, then started renting again. 6 mo. of verified tenancy. Wants to move closer to children.

- Has 3 kids who spend weekends with him, but had listed no child support payments

Candidate 2 -

- Teacher, starting career in August - 4 years of previous employment history as bartender.

- makes slightly over 3X rule

- auto loan default in 2017

- 4 years of verified tenancy while in college

- 2 small dogs

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Travis Lloyd]

Agree that neither fits a class B... sounds like you're realizing its a class C. The tenant with a default from 2 years ago is certainly more problematic than the tenant with a default/foreclosure in 2013 via divorce. You might toss both back in as undersized and keep fishing - but if you must take one, go with the 2013 default guy.